Trophy stays home as Findlay claims Cullen four day open title
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THERE was a Continental feel to the winners' list at this year's Cullen four day open.
A healthy turnout saw competitors from near and far throw their hats into the ring for one of the four trophies up for grabs – Scratch, Section 1, Section 2 and Section 3.
The Scratch trophy remained at Cullen, with last year's runner-up Michael Findlay going one better, triumphing over Neil Watt (Buckpool) at the 19th.
The Section 1 trophy, meanwhile, left not just the club but also these shores after Finlay Le Bouille, whose home club is Bondues in France, got the better of Newburgh's Euan Ross.
Buckpool's Iain Barclay retained his Section 2 title, seeing off the challenge of Cullen golfer Keith Griffiths.
It was an all-home affair in Section 3 where Stanley Anderson was crowned champion after vanquishing DS Cowie.
Claiming the Best Junior title was Charlie McKay (Cullen).
Club captain Steven Cowie said: "The open was very well attended, we had 147 in the end and everybody seemed happy with how things went.
"We actually had the biggest attendance of the four local opens.
"The first couple of days were pretty windy and the qualifying scores were really high as a result. The guys who were out first and last seemed to have the best of it and beat the worst of the wind.
"Friday and Saturday were much better and we had four excellent finals, the standard of golf overall was very high."
Thanks were voiced to the tournament sponsors Thistle Plumbing & Heating Services Ltd, Scottish Links Golf Tours, Cullen Builders Ltd, G & M Whyte Event Caterers, Grant Smith Law Practice and A&G Petrie Digital.
Also thanked for their donations were The Seafield Arms Hotel, Cullen, The Admirals, Findochty, James Calam Golf and various club members.
Four day open results:
Scratch: Semi-final – Michael Findlay beat Bruce Main; Neil Watt beat Michael Campbell. Final – Findlay beat Watt.
Section 1: Semi-final – Euan Ross beat Jake Scott; Finlay Le Bouille beat Alexander Mackie. Final – Le Bouille beat Ross.
Section 2 – Keith Griffiths beat Jim Hamilton; Iain Barclay beat Derek MacDonald. Final – Barclay beat Griffiths.
Section 3: Stanley Anderson beat Kenny Strachan; DS Cowie beat Ross Munro. Final – Anderson beat Cowie.
